Happy New Year!

I thought I’d load up a blog about life in Ibiza over the Christmas period for you to read. I’m sure that most of you who have lived abroad will agree that no one does Christmas like the Americans or the English. If you think that Christmas is the sun is very chilled but lacking in any magical atmosphere then you’re not wrong! So, now I have the t-shirt, I can happily cross off spending Christmas in Ibiza from the list! Life is about experiences and so having done it, I’m satisfied I don’t feel any need to do it again any time soon!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were lovely sunny days out here – the ‘no jacket needed’ sort of weather and we had some quality family time together. My husband is on business in the UK way more than we ever expected him to be, so when he is here in Ibiza, I do cherish the time we are together (until I’m sick of finding his boxer shorts all over the floor or collecting his empty tea cups off the side). Joking aside, time apart has taught me to appreciate family time so much more.

We didn’t have traditional Christmas dinner, unfortunately not, no. Christmassy food staples are not readily available in Ibiza so I had a chat with myself and decided in advance that I’d not get wound up about the fact we wouldn’t be eating a traditional Christmas meal. At the end of the day, there was nothing I could do about it so the best attitude was to fully get into the Spanish way of Christmas, sink a few aperols  and not spend any time dwelling on what wasn’t available. We spent the day at a nice restaurant with our ‘Ibiza family’ (our friends who live out here.)

Boxing Day is non-existent here and so was the bubble and squeak, simply because I had no left over veggies to make it with! On the plus side, (there’s always a plus!) because we had been out for Christmas Day, on waking up, my house didn’t look like we’d been burgled!

Christmas trees aren’t easy to get hold of in Ibiza – most shops don’t start selling them until the middle of December. I think that’s because the Spanish celebrate ‘Fiesta de Los Reyes’, (‘Three Kings Day’ to you and I) on January 5th more than they do Christmas day.

Most British people that live on the island tend to travel home for Christmas. Now I know why!! We didn’t, partly because we wanted to experience Christmas in Ibiza and also because we didn’t have anyone to look after the dogs! Between Christmas and New Year it felt like a ghost town here and the children didn’t have anyone to play with. There are only so many dog walks the children are keen to come on and so trying to entertain them was tough! A period in my life where quite frankly I did think ‘thank God for iPads!’

Mid December saw me get my Christmassy fix back in the UK when I flew back for a week to see friends and family and to take the children to Lapland. Wow! What a magical experience that was, with lovely memories made. Well worth a visit if you have young children and can brave the minus 10 degree weather!!

As much as I love the Christmas vibe in the UK, the stress that comes with it is another matter. It’s funny how you find yourself getting so caught up in the energy when you are there, but as soon as I got back to Ibiza, it seemed a million miles away. I was only in the UK for a week and three of those days were in Lapland so it was a serious race against the clock to fit in all the friends and family the children and I wanted to visit. I felt exhausted by the time I left the UK but reminded myself that’s all part and (Christmas) parcel of the buzz I love about the English festivities.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Martha is like a naughty teenager who’s recently got a bit more out of control, particularly on her walks. She has taken to running off and won’t come back until it suits her. As you can imagine it makes walking rather stressful so I have found a dog trainer that is going to work with the dogs and I to help improve their behaviour. I could have literally kissed the guy when he left our initial meeting, knowing that with his help my dogs will be better behaved. He also boards dogs which was music to my ears as this means we can leave the island whenever we need knowing that the dogs are being well looked after AND having their manners polished!

I seem to have had one drama after another since getting Martha and deciding to have her neutered was no exception!

Unfortunately there were some complications after the operation which was all very traumatic. When I got her home from the vets that afternoon, she started to bleed. I just assumed she had somehow opened the stitches, even though I wasn’t sure how. I put on my best First Aid head and thought that if I put pressure on the wound it might stop bleeding. No such luck. So, I call the vet. The vet was shut – at 3pm!! (Not unusual in Ibiza as everything shuts at 2pm for several hours.) It was now 3pm so I arranged to visit the emergency vet who put some extra  stitches in and sent me on my way.

Twenty minutes later, I get Martha home and the bleeding starts again. The children are now home from school and starting to panic when they see the blood. I’m trying my hardest to stay calm, instructing the kids (in that voice that only us mums can do) to ‘get in the car kids’ as we’re heading back to the vets again. After a strange sense of déjà vu, the vet says that he will have to give her another anaesthetic and re-open the wound to see where the bleeding is coming from! I felt absolutely gutted for her and wait for a call from the vet. Turns out that the internal bleeding had actually stopped by itself requiring no further treatment and is not an uncommon side effect of surgery in dogs with a lot of excess skin and fat.When I collected Martha the following day she looked exhausted bless her, but a couple of days of chilling out, she’s nearly back to her full-on naughty herself.

Since the operation, I’ve had a well-known healer on the island do some reiki/energy work on Martha just for an extra health boost. Yeah, yeah, I can see some of you choking on your tea as you read this, but I’m really into all that healing work and super power business. I personally believe it definitely helps and I’m game for anything that’s going to make my little pooch brighter.

Meanwhile it’s not stopped raining in Ibiza and so I’ve been throwing myself into training as I feel super motivated after a few weeks away from the gym. If you are looking for ways to stick to New Year Resolutions or goals you’ve set then why not read my recent blog post? http://www.cookcleanwithkate.com/latest-news/keeping-real-new-years-resolutions/

Catch up soon

Love Kate x